Ebony Tusks - "Heal, Thyself"

EBONY TUSKS - HEAL, THYSELF

“Healing lost nights of indifferently listening to your car stereo, Lawrence’s Ebony Tusks recently released record, Heal, Thyself, is for black sheep who deviate from the herd mentality, and that relish in resonantly vast lyrics coupled with head-thrashing fuzz and industrialized bone-chilling percussion. Meant to be heard, this album is not for passive consumers, but rather purposeful punks.

Heavy clashes in the distance surge in screeches of distorted synth, which introduce “Chuck D’s” and set the expansive tone for the rest of the LP. Your head and ears ring long after it ends - it’s clear the trio is assembling something concrete. Granting insight into their palpably felt process, “Chant” puts words to their technique. Alternating between thick noise and percussive clangs, “St. St. St.” bears a meditative resemblance to the dream-like state you ascend to while attending their mesmerizing live performances.

“Schuyler” swirls and swells as low-pitched, full-toned vocals hum by, rinsing away the impure-ness left by the Top 40’s. Championing repetition, “Alpha Dog” thrums “Swallow the memory” beneath the barking fuzz, calling you to hop the fence - unleashed. Don’t mistake “Heir Apparent”’s string-supreme slow start for anything less than profoundly hardcore.

Similarly, “Televangeli$t$” opens with a pronounced voice nestled within the crowd. If you weren’t already convinced, after this, you’ll undoubtedly rapture in the revelation that this album is, in fact, a religious experience. Following it, “You Runner” gnarls at your heels as you step in weighty overcast tides of reverberating noise worth drowning in.

Ask and you shall receive - like clockwork, “Gang Signs” fulfills this desire to bathe in industro-fuzz while you feel the ebb of the conveyor belt as metallurgic pulses clatter overhead. In unison, grounding voices bring you back to Earth in “Hell Above or Here Below”, and as long as this song is earthbound, it’s where you want to be.

Compelling and purifying, “Bloodletting” calmly drains, “I was supposed to have conquered these demons.” Purpose drips as a piano note drops, drawling this rarefaction to an end. Leaving you wanting more, “Punks Jump Up” oils the machine for what’s to come and it’s evident the punks will be jumping at the bit to experience it live.

Released via High Dive Records, Ebony Tusk's potent new album, Heal, Thyself, will heal more than empty silence - it will fill it with intention. Now is not the time for passivity; it’s the era of the purposeful punk.”

LISTEN NOW.

Review by ::

Skylar Rochelle

Manor Co-Organizer & Blog Editor

Manor Records gives 100% of the article author rights to Skylar Rochelle.